A little nervous...

[Canalsman]

The aire at Richebourg is in the POIs ...

 

[TJBi]

I've found myself doing some goat sitting in Luton, but in two weeks time when I'm done I should really bite the bullet and find my way to the other side of the channel. I'm a little nervous. I'm trying to ignore all the scaremongers and ridiculous stories but apart from anything else, I've done very little driving abroad. I've also just spoken to a couple whose cab was broken into twice in Spain while they were sleeping in the back. They did add that they still had a fantastic time and it wouldn't stop them going again but I'm still a little worried. I'm sure I'll be fine after a while when I've got my confidence up, but does anyone have any advice for the first few days/weeks? Especially if I'm on my own? Does it help to have a plan/itinerary to start with? How far should I plan to go on the first day do you think? I am vaguely heading for a friend's house near Langres so I'll have a breather there and find my feet.
I have bought the usual gubbins (bulbs,triangle etc.) and just found out my Euro rating so I can buy a Critair sticker. Do I need a sticker for other countries too? Do I need headlight deflectors? I think I'll try and seek out other van peeps as much as possible to start with so I can learn some stuff. Any thoughts appreciated!
I'll do another thread for my specific gas questions I think...
Thanks - Lindsay x

I started motorhoming in 2014, and have since spent something in the order of a year in France, generally split into two trips per year. I have nearly always used aires or wild camped, only using one campsite to meet friends who live there when renting out their house nearby. I have never bought an aires book, always relying on the Wild Camping POIs for France (some excellent ones alongside lakes and inland waterways) and the POIs for France from CAMPINGCAR-INFOS - all of them loaded on my satnav. I also use the WC and CCI POIs on my Android tablet, the former using maps.me with all French mapping downloaded for offline use and the latter using their Android app with data, comments and photos for the whole of France downloaded for offline use (for which there is a modest subscription for either 90 days or a year).

There is a recent thread about hose/fittings required in France. I have found Hozelock or similar fittings to be useful, with 3/4" and 1/2" threaded fittings being quite common and the male/male fitting also occasionally being useful. Service points equipped with the corresponding female outlet presented a steep learning curve: you have to ensure that you connect everything to your hose to begin with and then insert into the outlet; removal from the outlet is what cuts off the flow, so you need to ensure that you remove your entire system in one go as leaving the male/male fitting in the female outlet can result in you getting very wet!
It is also useful to have one of these: https://www.partmaster.co.uk/washing-machine/taps-adaptors/hose-tap-adaptor/product.pl?pid=217848 which I have found invaluable with non-threaded taps.

France is very well geared to motorhoming, so enjoy!

 

[Tezza33]

a satnav has been mentioned, do you have one or do you have a phone/tablet with maps.me?, if you don't have a satnav pm me, I have one I no longer need

 

[Biggarmac]

Lindsay you asked about how to find campsites. I use the A.C.S.I . book. It is a discount scheme for some campsites. Useful for a first trip on your own. Have a great time.

 

[Clunegapyears]

We mostly wild. Some years ago we were conscious that if anything happened to us, no one would know where we are. So we use maps.me, click on our position and share our coordinates by text every evening with my sister.

In 3.5 years we’ve moved on about 3 times as we didn’t like the look of a place (one was a gay dogging lay-by in the UK!!!). And broken into in Copenhagen - we’d stayed too long on a side street and been out all day. Now we use campsites in major towns and cities or stay well out and cycle or bus in.

For France we also like France Passion, but only worth buying if you plan to spend a a good few nights on their farms. They are nearly always rural and very quiet.

Do you plan to stay in France?

 

[seadogjon]

Hi ,lindsay,,being a bit nervous is ok,
Why dont you look into ferries to dieppe ,fairly cheap this time of year and straight into lovely peaceful country.
Note that campsites start shutting end of september ,but the aire system is brilliant .
I much prefer driving france than at home ,big smile on my face every time we land.
Do read up on french traffic rules ,mostly like ours but some odd like ,triangle with black cross in centre ,people on the right have priority ,mainly small towns and villages .
i would avoid large places like rouen etc ,ok but can be a bit hairy.
Just enjoy and chill.we are heading to dieppe in a couple weeks ,can,t wait
Jon.

 

[Caz]

I went on a trip to France last year with a group of solo ladies. 13 vans, 13 ladies and 11 dogs. Only myself and a couple of the others had been before.

To start with we travelled in mini convoys of 4 vans max, and met up each night at a pre-agreed aire, but by the second week most were all confident enough with the driving etc to travel on their own.

Over the 3 weeks I stayed on two campsites. One for 5 nights (that was the only pre-booked thing we had) and the other for one night 'cos I needed a shower and washing machine. The rest of the time we used the aires.

All the ladies loved it and said they would happily do it again on their own.

 

[Deleted member 75172]

I'd get a high viz and beam deflectors, again many don't bother with them, they are only a few quid, and one thing less to stress about.

UK headlights are pointed left, which is straight at the oncoming drivers so beam deflectors are a must.
I once had mine badly positioned and had lorry drivers shining lasers at me and that was not fun.

Hope you enjoy the trip
Pete

 

[alcam]

I went on a trip to France last year with a group of solo ladies. 13 vans, 13 ladies and 11 dogs. Only myself and a couple of the others had been before.

To start with we travelled in mini convoys of 4 vans max, and met up each night at a pre-agreed aire, but by the second week most were all confident enough with the driving etc to travel on their own.

Over the 3 weeks I stayed on two campsites. One for 5 nights (that was the only pre-booked thing we had) and the other for one night 'cos I needed a shower and washing machine. The rest of the time we used the aires.

All the ladies loved it and said they would happily do it again on their own.

How did you dispose of your victims ?

 

[LindsayH]

Thanks everyone, so much reassurance and lots of great advice! I've copied and pasted various bits into my WC forum notes file on my computer.
I love this:
"Rule 1 Do not rush..... but the odd long day is OK
Rule 2 No more rules
Rule 3 See rule 2"

The Richebourg aire is in the right direction, thank you Chris and Jagmanx. I'd be headed for Langres probably.

Thanks OH, Oppy and N Brown for the kind words.

TJBi and Tezza33, I have a satnav, a new TomTom which was my leaving present from work. It has never worked however. Now I am in one place for a couple of weeks they are going to call me and do a remote take over of my computer to try and get it sorted. Then I can finally download some stuff onto it. Can someone give me a brief explanation of what Mapsme is? I've seen it mentioned a few times. At the moment I have Google Earth Pro on my computer but it is very clunky and slow and sometimes doesn't want to work offline at all. Would Mapsme be a good alternative. I'm also an Ordinance Survey subscriber but haven't explored whether that's useful or not yet. Camper-Info is new to me and looks helpful - thanks.

Thanks Biggarmac, I'll google that!

I'm sorry I didn't run into you at Hereford Clunegapyears. Hopefully I'll bump into you on the road one day so I can pick your brains! I had wondered about France Passion, I was looking at it last night. The places do look nice. I don't know how long I'll stay in France, my plans have all gone out the window. I suspect it may get a bit cold for me and then I guess my options will be fleeing back to England to sofa surf or head South! My French is awful too, although I've now at least bought a phrase book. The last couple of years I've been learning a bit of Spanish and Greek so I don't think I have much room left in my head for French!

Very helpful thanks Seadogjon. I had forgotten I need to swat up on roadsigns and suchlike. I will also look at the Dieppe ferry and get some prices.

That sounds like soooo much fun Caz! And such a confidence building way of getting into continental travel.

Fab, thanks Petabix ( great name :-D ). I'm just about to do an Amazon order so good timing...

Cheers all x

 

[seadogjon]

Hi ,lindsay,,being a bit nervous is ok,
Why dont you look into ferries to dieppe ,fairly cheap this time of year and straight into lovely peaceful country.
Note that campsites start shutting end of september ,but the aire system is brilliant .
I much prefer driving france than at home ,big smile on my face every time we land.
Do read up on french traffic rules ,mostly like ours but some odd like ,triangle with black cross in centre ,people on the right have priority ,mainly small towns and villages .
i would avoid large places like rouen etc ,ok but can be a bit hairy.
Just enjoy and chill.we are heading to dieppe in a couple weeks ,can,t wait
Jon.

Make that a triangle with a black X in centre..
Hope its not an insult but over sixties get 20 percent discount if done by phone on dieppe boat .
Got a feeling you dont qualify?
Jon..

 

[LindsayH]

Make that a triangle with a black X in centre..
Hope its not an insult but over sixties get 20 percent discount if done by phone on dieppe boat .
Got a feeling you dont qualify?
Jon..

20% blimey!! No, sadly not. Will I get away with a grey wig do you think??

 

[Canalsman]

We mostly wild. Some years ago we were conscious that if anything happened to us, no one would know where we are. So we use maps.me, click on our position and share our coordinates by text every evening with my sister.

You can do this automatically.

The free option is to use Google Maps to share your position with a named individual.

I use a more sophisticated option, an app called Life360. This requires an annual subscription of £20 and you create a group that share their positions continuously using the GPS location of their phones.

It has many options including keeping an exact track of the routes you drive which can be useful if you drive solo and can't remember exactly where you've been. Also useful to remind you historically about where you've been, though Google Timeline does something similar.

I feel more relaxed that my daughters know exactly where I am.

 

[Canalsman]

You can find out more about maps.me here:

Using POI kml files with Maps.me - Maps with me.

 

[jagmanx]

POI for Friends Family

I simply use the check-in facility on Facebook on my phone
write a brief comment and share..
You can choose who to share with maybe not all friends but those in "family"
Particularly good on a smartphone or Tablet
Maybe include a photo occasionally
The advantage of the phone is that with a suitable simcard it is so easy and no need to wind the laptop up etc

Ask your main contacts to press "like" or indeed make a comment so you know they have seen it

Maspsme is great as has been suggested..
I log all my overnights saving in a bookmarks folder eg France or Spain etc

I name places to include a number
eg 01 Calais
02 Richebourg
03 .....

Sad person that I am I then import them to Google maps (my Maps)

 

[alwaysared]

If you use whatsapp you can share your location with one or all of your group, you can even set an expiry time. It's all explaiined here
Good luck Lindsey, it was nice talking to you at Hereford and I'm sure you'll be fine, just enjoy.

Regards,
Del